What is the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam? And how does it work?
“Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam is another deceptive alert that aims to trick a user into thinking that the Adobe Flash Player program is out of date and that it has to be updated right away in order to continue using the program. It is delivered by compromised websites and you can get redirected into one when you click on malicious ads online. Here are some of the versions of the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam:
“Adobe Flash Player is out of date!
The version of “Adobe Flash Player” on your system does not include the latest security updates and has been blocked. To continue using “Adobe Flash Player”, download an updated version.”
“Adobe Flash Player Update
Install Adobe Flash Player and enjoy the largest database for:
Music Albums with user-friendly interface
All Song Formats with easy access
Videos Library leading video codec library”
“Latest version of Adobe Flash Player is required to encode and/or decode (play) audio files in high quality. –
Click here to update for the latest version.
Software update”
When you encounter this kind of bogus alert, you must not believe its deceptive message for you will only end up installing a potentially dangerous application. Cybercriminals often use fake software updates to disseminate harmful threats like Trojans, ransomware, and many more. This is why you shouldn’t click the Download or OK buttons and close the tab that’s displaying the scam right away. However, if you keep seeing this deceptive alert, then this means that there is some adware program installed in your computer that triggers the redirects to the site where this scam is displayed. And so to completely get rid of this scam, you must get rid of the adware program as well.
How does the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam spread over the web?
The “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam spreads using malicious websites as well as ad-supported programs. These adware programs are commonly found in software bundles that are distributed on free sharing sites. To avoid installing such programs, you have to always use the Advanced or Custom setup when installing this kind of software package.
You can get rid of the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” by following each one of the removal steps provided below as well as the advanced removal guide that follows.
Step_1: The first thing you have to do is close the tab or the browser displaying the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam. However, if your browser is forced to go into full-screen mode because of the fake alert, tap F11 on your keyboard to exit full-screen mode.
Step_2: After that, try to close the browser manually. If you find it hard to do so, close the browser through the Task Manager.
Step_3: Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Task Manager.
Step_4: After opening the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the affected browser’s process and end it by clicking End Task or End Process.
Step_5: Close the Task Manager and reset all the affected browsers to default.
Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
- After that, click on Settings.
- Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
- After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
- Now restart Google Chrome.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
- In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
- Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
- Select Options and then move to the General menu.
- Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.
Internet Explorer
- Launch Internet Explorer.
- Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
- Then click Internet Options.
- After that, go to the Advanced tab.
- From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
- Now click OK to save the changes made.
- Restart your computer.
Step_6: Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and then type in “appwiz.cpl” to open Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step_7: From there, look for the adware program or any unfamiliar program that could be related to the “Adobe Flash Player is out of date” scam under the list of installed programs, and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.
Step_8: Close the Control Panel and tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
Step_9: Navigate to the following directories and look for the adware installer like the software bundle it came with as well as other suspicious files and delete them.
- %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
- %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
- %TEMP%
Step_10: Edit your Hosts File.
- Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
- Go to System32/drivers/etc.
- Open the hosts file using Notepad.
- Delete all the entries of any suspicious web URL.
- After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.
Step_11: Now you have to flush the DNS cache of your computer. To do so, right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step_12: Close the File Explorer and empty your Recycle Bin.
Congratulations, you have just removed Adobe Flash Player is out of date Scam in Windows 10 all by yourself. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit fixmypcfree.com daily.
Now that’s how you remove Adobe Flash Player is out of date Scam in Windows 10 on a computer. On the other hand, if your computer is going through some system-related issues that have to get fixed, there is a one-click solution known as Restoro you could check out to resolve them.
This program is a useful tool that could repair corrupted registries and optimize your PC’s overall performance. Aside from that, it also cleans out your computer for any junk or corrupted files that help you eliminate any unwanted files from your system. This is basically a solution that’s within your grasp with just a click. It’s easy to use as it is user-friendly. For a complete set of instructions in downloading and using it, refer to the steps below
Perform a full system scan using Restoro. To do so, follow the instructions below.
